The Governor’s P-20 Council was created to improve and align Arizona’s education systems from early childhood through postsecondary education. In addition, it works to align Arizona’s education systems to the expectations of 21st century employers.
Members of the P-20 Council and its committees focus their work in seven policy areas and serve as educational advisors to the governor. Center Executive Director Sybil Francis serves at the invitation of the governor as the chair of the Data and Graduation Committee. The committee has tapped the center’s expertise on education-related research and analysis. The center also provides the Data and Graduation Committee with recommendations on important policy matters before the committee.
Committee’s Purpose:
To build a robust assessment system and expand data capacity to enable data-driven decision making for improving high school graduation rates and alignment of the P-20 education pipeline, and linking data systems across the entire education pipeline from pre-school through postsecondary education.
Committee Initiatives:
- Implement an effective data system
- Implement a teacher identifier
- Raise the compulsory attendance age
Committee Accomplishments:
Adopted the statewide high school graduation goal recommended by the Center for the Future of Arizona, which will raise the statewide high school graduation rate to 86 percent by 2020, an increase of 16 percentage points from 2006.
Recommended that the Arizona Department of Education (ADE) and the State Board of Education (SBE) implement personalized graduation plans. SBE has adopted Education and Career Action Plans (ECAPS), which will be required for the entering freshmen of 2009.
In 2005 the governor signed the National Governors Association (NGA) Compact on State High School Graduation Data, committing to taking steps to implement a standard, four-year adjusted cohort graduation rate. The Arizona Department of Education has implemented the NGA formula.
The committee is working aggressively to effect implementation of elements 5 and 6 of the Data Quality Campaign (DQC)’s10 Essential Elements and Fundamentals of a P-12 Longitudinal Data System. Elements 1, 2, 3, 8 and 10 have been implemented, and 4, 7, and 9 are in the process of being implemented or have the ability to implement.